Pau’u Talks BYU Commitment

2014 Anaheim (Calif.) Servite quarterback follows his older brother's lead and commits to BYU.

It didn’t take long for 2014 Anaheim (Calif.) Servite quarterback, Neil Pau'u to jump at the offer the BYU coaching staff extended him while attending their camp in June.

“I committed to BYU,” Pau’u said with a smile. “It was really shocking; I wasn’t expecting it. I was just going out there to try and get better, get a couple of schools looking at me.”

“My brother (Butch Pau’u) goes there, so I thought I had a chance of going there. It’s a great school to go to so my view on that school was just to go there, try to get better and if I get offered, I get offered. Luckily, I did.”

The 6-foot-4, 190-pounder didn’t feel that any school would better fit him and decided to commit on the spot.

“My parents told me not to (commit right away),” Pau’u admitted, “but I felt something inside me to commit.”

If the fact that he will have his older brother to look after him isn’t enough to ease his parents’ minds, having his uncle as one of his coaches will surely do the trick. Steve Kaufusi is the defensive line coach at BYU and was there to help the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Brandon Doman make the offer.

Its not just Cougar football that attracted the young signal-caller to BYU—he feels that the values the school instills in its students also played a big part in his decision.

“Its just like Servite High School,” Pau’u said. “It puts the Lord first, then family, then education. That’s the big part; they put student before athlete, which I really love. And they’ve built a tradition of building faith-filled leaders. They teach you how to be leaders and how to conduct yourself inside and outside the school.”

As far as summer plans go, Pau’u is planning to work out with his team and work on improving his game.

“Right now I’m just trying to get better,” Pau’u said. “I’m working mostly on my throwing motion and footwork.”

With the pressure of making a college choice off his back, the quarterback is ready to focus on his junior season.

“I can’t wait,” he explained. “We lost a lot of people last year, but it should be fun. There are a bunch of seniors this year who are ready to play, and juniors and sophomores as well so we’re all just excited to see what happens.”

Pau’u says that although he wants to go to BYU and is confident in his decision, he doesn’t think he can completely close any doors if other schools show interest in him.